Central Subway dig leaves some downtown shop owners buried

A man checks out construction along Stockton Street, Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif. Gary Champagne, who owns a nearby beauty supply store, said his business plummeted when the Central Subway project began in 2012. He said his store Beauty Land may not survive much longer. Because of construction, vehicles aren’t allowed to park near his business and the construction vehicles that are allowed are blocking the view of the front of the store.

Photo: Santiago Mejia / Special to the Chronicle

When the Central Subway project began in downtown San Francisco in 2012, everyone knew there would be some disruption. But for small businesses in the area, the subway isn’t the only thing going under.

The official estimate now is that the subway will be up and running by 2019. That may not be soon enough, say some store owners.

“I have been here since 1983,” said Gary Champagne, owner of Beautyland Beauty Supply on O’Farrell Street off Powell. “And the way this is going, I’ll be gone by the time the subway opens. I’m just hoping to hang on until the end of the year.”

Champagne and others say the construction, which has closed Stockton Street to traffic, is only part of the problem. The recent switch to ban private cars from a downtown stretch of Market Street has created a salad spinner of confusing traffic, especially for tourists. Ellis Street is blocked by construction, creating an unexpected dead end. And since cars coming down O’Farrell are forced to turn up Grant and away from Market, they end up looping around the neighborhood, creating epic traffic snarls, particularly for the evening commute.

Phineas Ng says he dreads coming downtown from his home in Pacific Heights, even though his family has run Tad’s Steakhouse on Powell for 15 years.

Bjoern Hoppe, left, and Viviene Vehar walk past construction along O'Farrell Street, Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif. Store owner Gary Champagne, who owns a nearby beauty supply store, said his business plummeted when the Central Subway project began in 2012. He said his store Beauty Land may not survive much longer. Because of construction, vehicles aren’t allowed to park near his business and the construction vehicles that are allowed are blocking the view of the front of the store.

Photo: Santiago Mejia / Special to the Chronicle

“At rush hour I am almost to the point where I just want to go to Starbucks and sit and drink coffee for an hour,” he said. “We used to get a lot of locals, but now nobody wants to come down here. The locals we used to get once a week, now we see them once a month.”

And perhaps worst of all is Les Joulins Bistro on Ellis, a jazz club that usually does a booming business with tourists who come for the music and Mediterranean food.

“We have been here since 1980, and this is the worst year since we’ve opened,” said owner Osman Uner. “Summer is our bread and butter. And now the season is finished.”

Central Subway dig leaves some downtown shop owners buried

1of3Store owner Gary Champagne talks business on the phone at Beauty Land, Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif. Champagne, who has owned the beauty supply store for 32 years on O’Farrell Street near Powell Street, says his business plummeted when the Central Subway project began in 2012. He says his store may not survive much longer. Because of construction, vehicles aren’t allowed to park near his business and the construction vehicles that are allowed are blocking the view of the front of the store.Photo: Santiago Mejia / Special to the Chronicle

2of3Lisa McGrath, on holiday visiting from Ireland, takes a peek at Beauty Land, Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif. Store owner Gary Champagne, who has owned the beauty supply store for 32 years on OÕFarrell Street near Powell Street, said his business plummeted when the Central Subway project began in 2012. He said his store may not survive much longer. Because of construction, vehicles arenÕt allowed to park near his business and the construction vehicles that are allowed are blocking the view of the front of the store.Photo: Santiago Mejia / Special to the Chronicle

3of3Signs are seen in front of Beauty Land, Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif. Store owner Gary Champagne, who has owned the beauty supply store for 32 years on OÕFarrell Street near Powell Street, said his business plummeted when the Central Subway project began in 2012. He said his store may not survive much longer. Because of construction, vehicles arenÕt allowed to park near his business and the construction vehicles that are allowed are blocking the view of the front of the store.Photo: Santiago Mejia / Special to the Chronicle

Ng says he’s gotten a notice from the Municipal Transportation Agency that Powell Street will be closed to traffic except cable cars. (MTA couldn’t confirm by deadline.) That, Champagne says, will only make things worse.

Tag and you’re it: Saturday’s column about the city of San Francisco filing a civil suit against alleged serial graffiti tagger Cozy Terry generated lots of response. Among those who checked in was SFPD Officer Marty Ferreira, who is sometimes called San Francisco’s “graffiti cop.”

Ferreira has spent years cataloging and identifying graffiti tags. He’s often called as an expert witness in tagging trials and appeared at both the court hearings for accused serial tagger Andrew “Cryst” Yarborough and now for Terry, who is being asked to cover damage of over $53,000 for what city attorneys say are her prolific tagging binges.

An Instagram account that the city attorney’s office says belongs to Terry even posted a photo of someone who looks like her in the act of tagging a wall.

“My perception was that this was a person who didn’t think she was going to get caught or didn’t care,” said Ferreira. “I think she was surprised when this happened.”

Mike check: KGO talk show host Ronn Owens had hoped to be back at work Monday. But he’s taking a little more time after brain surgery two weeks ago to mitigate symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. At this point his return is day to day. Owens writes to friends that he’s “feeling better and stronger every day” but for now is letting substitute host Brian Copeland host the show.

So long, Jim Meko: Meant to mention the passing of SoMa community advocate Jim Meko sooner, but events overtook me. Although a bit cranky, Meko always took my calls and once he’d taken a few minutes to explain how I’d gotten nearly everything wrong in my column, he always had time to answer questions.

Meko was a driving force in the Western SoMa Neighborhood Plan, which attempted to preserve diversity, add housing and develop retail. The much-discussed plan, six years in the making, is rolling out now in what has turned out to be some of the hottest real estate neighborhoods in the city.

Meko, who died earlier this month at 66, could sound gruff but had an unexpected sense of humor. When he ran for supervisor in District Six, a local blog created humorous fake campaign signs for all the candidates.

Playing on his craggy looks and gray hair, his fake post called him “Old Man Meko,” and claimed campaign info could be found at “Getoffmylawn.org.” I avoided mentioning it to him, but the next time we spoke he brought it up.

“I thought it was hilarious,” he said.

As he once told an interviewer, “I may not be pretty and might not be a showboat, but I know my stuff.”

C.W. Nevius has been a columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle for more than 20 years, covering sports, reviewing movies and spotting trends. He is currently a metro columnist, appearing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

As a sports columnist, he climbed the ski jump at the Norway Olympics, ate bee larvae in Japan and skied in the French Alps. In all, he covered eight Olympic Games, from Australia to Spain to Korea. (And the strangest place of all, Los Angeles.)

He also wrote about riding the “Straight Talk Express” with John McCain during his first presidential bid, parachuting out of an airplane and running the Boston Marathon.

Although he reviewed movies only for a year, he did rate a blurb with his byline on the DVD box of “The Santa Clause 2,” to the undying embarrassment of his kids.

He co-wrote “Splash Hit,” about building the Giants’ waterfront stadium, with Joan Walsh. His latest book is “Crouching Father, Hidden Toddler: A Zen Guide for New Dads.”